


The Soldier’s Charlatan

by DAfan7711



Series: Andromeda [3]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst and Romance, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, One Shot, Romance, Short, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-13 21:30:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13579311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAfan7711/pseuds/DAfan7711
Summary: Ryder’s solution for ending the war between the Outcasts and the Collective shocks everyone. Ryder x Reyes one shot.





	The Soldier’s Charlatan

**Author's Note:**

> Content includes angst and violence. Tagged as M/F and M/M because Ryder is written in a gender-neutral way, so you can imagine the Pathfinder's appearance however you wish.
> 
> THANK YOU to Cat for beta reading this Reyder short fic!
> 
>  

Expecting trouble, Ryder took Vetra and Drack to a hidden cave in the Sulfur Springs to meet Sloane Kelly, the brutal human ruler of Kadara Port and former head of Nexus security.

This little outing wouldn’t help them find the missing arks, but if peace could be negotiated for Kadara Port, it would be a huge step in keeping Nexus residents from starving, and the Pathfinder team would do everything possible to help.

Sloane arrived at the cave entrance alone. A brave move, but it wasn’t great strategy. Then again, Sloane’s own people had beat the shit out of her turian boyfriend until he was unconscious. She had no other options, except ignoring the Charlatan’s summons and waiting for the Collective to take her out in a flashy, messy way.

They followed Sloane into the cave.

“You look like you’re waiting for someone,” Reyes stepped from the shadows, a charlatan’s smile twisting his lips. Lips that tasted damn fine with whiskey—and without whiskey. Rooftops and storage closets hadn’t been the only places Reyes had set up rendezvous the last few days.

Well, fuck. The warning signs had been there—Reyes was too slippery and well-informed to be a “small time” smuggler—but it had been easier to enjoy his clever tongue and winks, to ignore the red flags. “Shena” indeed; the angara had known what they were about when assigning Reyes’ code name. Whatever his secrets, they were small compared to the plight of the Nexus and arks. He might have been hiding something, but at least he wasn’t a butcher like Sloane. Right?

Wrong.

And here he was, delivering that same line he’d plied the first time they’d met in the pub.

_You look like you’re waiting for someone._

Reyes looked expectant, but Ryder just raised an eyebrow and let Sloane do all the talking. The fool was agreeing to a duel, of all things. Like someone named the Charlatan, someone who had turned Sloane’s own Outcasts against her and successfully run a faction war, would follow the rules of engagement.

_Additional heat signature nearby, Pathfinder_ , SAM spoke on their private channel.

The cave was dim, but a glint of sunlight from the entrance reflected off the buckles on Reyes’ leather jacket—and the scope of a sniper rifle on a dark ledge above him.

_Sniper!_ SAM said. _He has his sights set on S_ —

In one fluid movement, Ryder unholstered a Carnifex pistol and shot Sloane in the back of the neck, at the base of the skull, like taking out a suicide bomber. Only there wasn’t a dead man’s switch to catch, as there had been back on Omega, the last mission Ryder had taken before the Alliance had disavowed the entire Ryder family for Alec’s AI research. It was the Queen of Kadara who hit the cave floor. A former Nexus ally. Sloane Kelly.

Reyes froze, eyes wide with shock.

“Ryder!” Vetra exclaimed. “What the hell?!”

Shields fully charged, Ryder aimed the Carnifex at Reyes. “Tell your sniper to leave.”

Without turning around, Reyes waved his hand in the air and the sniper slunk back along his perch, into the darkness.

“Why?” Reyes asked, gesturing at the body on the ground, but not bothering to look down.

“All of Kadara will know it was the human Pathfinder who liberated the port from a tyrant,” Ryder said. Speaking the truth was easy. Almost as easy as falling into false kisses. “The angara will have it back, and the Nexus will have an outpost.”

“How, if you are not pulling the strings?” Reyes stepped closer, ignoring the gun still trained on him, ducking his head as if relaying a secret. “You could make Keema your figurehead.”

Of course. That was what _he_ had planned to do. The plan was as obvious as a punch to the gut, _if_ you were paying attention and not addled by whiskey-leaden lips.

“No. I’m going to do what’s right, instead of what’s easy.”

“Nothing about Heleus is easy,” Reyes scoffed, his shiny Charlatan veneer slipping just a touch to show a glimpse of the hardened man underneath. Hardened or not, Ryder would have loved that man, had he been honest just once before this meeting. The early lies were fine. Not sharing about this duel-turned-assassination was not.

“You want easy, return to the Nexus and take whatever job Tann’s willing to give you. You’re tactically savvy, Vidal, but you buy your own drinks from now on.”

“I understand.” He actually had the gall to look sad about it. As if their heated embraces had been more than a cover for his mechanizations.

It didn’t matter. Reyes was more competent, and perhaps more compassionate, than Sloane, but not more trustworthy. There was plenty of ruthless under all that suave.

Reyes followed the back tunnel up to a sunlit ledge, where a shuttle was waiting.

“Vidal,” Ryder called after him.

Reyes looked over his shoulder. “Yes?”

“I may have worked with archeologists in the Milky Way, but I’m Alliance, and my specialty is killing pirates.”

“Understood,” he said, and flew out.

Gone.

Ryder fetched a body bag from the Nomad and tended to Sloane carefully, as carefully as the team had for their fallen comrades on that last Milky Way dig. The routine protection assignment had turned into a three-day firefight with Batarian slavers. That was six hundred, thirty-four years ago. Those who had been saved were likely dead now, too. Except the asari. Maybe some of them still lived. That was an encouraging thought on an otherwise shitty day.

Vetra shifted nervously on her feet, eyeing the body bag. She hadn’t flinched at all the Outlaws they’d killed in the surrounding camps, but, apparently, killing Sloane was a little too much for the gray market dealer.

Drack’s look was more calculating, “You’ve got a quad, kid.”

Ryder picked up Sloane. “I have a feeling we’re going to need more than my quad and yours to deal with Morda at the krogan colony.”

“Probably,” Drack turned back for the Nomad, gesturing for Vetra to follow.

Ryder let the krogan take the wheel, and then sent messages to Aya via omni-tool. Before the Tempest left Kadara, Evfra and the governor would need to send a few representatives out to be Keema’s assistants, just in case the angaran woman was still Reyes’ friend.

By the time they reached the slums, Vidal’s room had been cleared out by the Charlatan’s crew, and the governor of the angara had approved a human outpost in the badlands of Kadara.

The cost of life had been higher than Ryder would have liked, but it could have been worse. A lot worse.

It took another few hours to finalize arrangements for Sloane’s burial and make it back on the Tempest. Back into the Pathfinder’s cabin, where the outside world could be locked out.

Food? No, Drack would be in the galley and more talk would solve nothing.

Shower? No, showering was too much effort. Maybe tomorrow.

Armor dropped to the floor, Sloane’s blood still on the chest piece.

SAM’s holo popped up on the desk, “Pathfinder, are you all right?”

“No, SAM,” the watery choke of tears could no longer be held back. “I lied. I do give a fuck about Shena. But I’m never going to see him again. I was stupid, SAM. More people died because I didn’t take care of Sloane and the Charlatan earlier.”

“Do you need assistance? Shall I call—”

“No, SAM, this can’t be fixed. Just let me sleep.”

“Very well, Pathfinder. Night mode enabled.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can also [read this story on Tumblr](https://nicandnonnieryder.tumblr.com/post/170521967762/the-soldiers-charlatan-ryders-solution-for).
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm celebrating my new Andromeda sideblog on Tumblr, [nicandnonnieryder](https://nicandnonnieryder.tumblr.com/). You can also follow me on my main Tumblr, [dafan7711](https://dafan7711.tumblr.com/), for more on gaming and writing. Features include Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Write it Wednesday. Asks, messaging, and beta reading requests are open. Or check [my AO3 profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAfan7711/profile) for e-mail and my other sites.


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